Top Tips for Visiting Forrest Gump Point
3 years, 2 months, 14 days and 16 hours. That’s the exact time it took for Forrest Gump to crisscross his way five times across the USA. When he started running, I bet he never thought he’d do it for that long!
He went from coast to coast, gathering hundreds of followers as he did it before one day, and for no real reason at all, suddenly stopping. The place he chose to do this happens to be one of our favourite spots in the world – Monument Valley, Utah.
If you have no idea what we’re talking about then watch this short clip, by the time you’re done you’ll be desperate to watch the full movie:
You’ll be pleased to know that the backdrop to this famous scene is 100% real – no camera trickery needed here! And even though the film is over 25 years old, this iconic viewpoint still looks exactly the same as it did then.
The even better news is that it is completely free to visit and if you keep reading you’ll find out the best ways to get there as well as loads of other useful tips!
How to get there?
Forrest Gump Point (or Forrest Gump Hill depending on what map service you use) is located on the Utah side of Route 163 and is about a 20-minute drive north-east of Monument Valley.
However, as you’ll see from the map, it’s in an isolated location hours away from the nearest city:
We keep referencing Monument Valley because that’s the closest landmark and is what most people aim to see while tagging on the viewpoint – it just one of the things you just can’t miss when exploring the US Southwest.
If you are travelling towards Monument Valley from places such as Denver, Albuquerque or Moab then you are in luck as you’ll pass through Forrest Gump Point on your route.
However, if you are coming over from Las Vegas, Page or the Grand Canyon then you’ll have to do just a tiny bit more driving. Once you get to the roundabout at the entrance to the Navajo Valley Tribal Park, instead of turning right, drive straight on. After about 20 minutes you will be able to pull over and get one of the coolest views ever.
Best time to go?
You may think you can turn up at any time of the day and get a great picture of the landscape, however it’s not that simple.
Because of the direction of the sunrise, the best time to go is in the morning. Arriving early means that the Monuments are lit up with an amazing golden hue and the sun is behind you so there won’t be any glare.
Arriving later in the day means that the sun will likely be overhead thus washing out the landscape, obscuring your photos and not giving you the best light. If you wait until sunset then you may get an okay picture but because it sets behind the Monuments it just won’t have the same effect as if you were there during sunrise.
We got there around 8:45am in April which is not super early but still a perfect time to see it in all its glory.
If you plan to head here in winter don’t think that just because you are in the desert that it will be warm! Temperatures can get cold during the day and its not uncommon for the landscape to have a sprinkling of snow across it.
Other useful tips
- Yes, this is a tourist attraction but its also a main road. Cars take precedent so be safe and make sure you check both ways before wandering out into the middle of the road for your photos. Time flies when you are having fun so take a glimpse over your shoulder every now and again to check there are still no cars about.
- We visited during a lovely spring morning and there were a handful of cars stopped at the side with other tourists looking for the perfect picture. The road itself wasn’t busy though with only a few cars driving past the entire time we were there. However, we haven’t been here during peak summer season, but I imagine it gets quite crowded and the road gets busier so aim to get there early.
- Although Google Maps will take you to a large layby, there’s plenty of others along the stretch you can stop at. These are often smaller, quieter and have just as good a view. We stopped just a little bit west of the main spot – the coordinates are 37.09745° N; 109.99684° W. You can also find it on What3Words using ///playful.crossroads.cowboys which is very fitting don’t you think??
- As we’ve said, the nearest city is hours away so if you plan to see Forrest Gump Point in the morning then we suggest staying in one of the hotels or camp sites close to Monument Valley the night before. When we went, we stayed in the View Hotel within the Navajo Tribal Park and it was an amazing experience – just look at this view you get from your bedroom:
